The present invention relates to a relay and a relay manufacturing method.
In an electromagnetic portion of a relay, a magnetic circuit is constituted by a core and an armature, and the armature is rocked and displaced according to an excitation of a coil provided in an outer peripheral portion of the core. In such an electromagnetic portion, how to stabilize the rock and displacement of the armature is a subject. Moreover, how to prevent a magnetic flux from leaking from a magnetic circuit constituted by the core and the armature is also a great subject. Furthermore, a simplification of a process of manufacturing a relay and a reduction in a cost are great subjects.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a relay capable of stably rocking and displacing an armature with high precision and of decreasing a leakage flux to enhance an efficiency.
Moreover, it is a second object of the present invention to provide a relay and a method of manufacturing the relay in which a manufacturing process can be simplified and a cost can be reduced.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides a relay (100) for opening or closing a contact by an electromagnetic interaction, comprising a coil (202) having a core (204) bent like an almost L shape, an armature (201) provided to generate a predetermined axial rock and displacement by the electromagnetic interaction with the coil (202) and serving to transmit the rock and displacement to a contact portion (10) through a card (104), thereby opening or closing a contact (103a), an engagement portion (201a) provided on the armature (201), and energizing means (205c), wherein the armature is bent like an almost L shape such that outer peripheral surfaces of both ends thereof can abut on both end faces of the core, the engagement portion (201a) is provided by bending at least a part of an edge on one of sides of the armature (201) to be engaged with an edge portion (204c) on an end face at one of sides of the core (204), and the energizing means (205c) energizes the engagement portion (201a) of the armature (201) toward the edge portion (204c) of the core (204), thereby holding the armature (201) to be rocked and displaced by setting an engagement part of the engagement portion (201a) with the edge portion (204c) to be an axis.
Consequently, at least a part of the edge on one of the sides of the almost L-shaped armature is bent to form the engagement portion and the armature is held to be rocked and displaced through the energizing means in a slate in which the engagement portion is engaged with the edge portion of the end face on one of the sides of the core. Therefore, a rocked shaft is not shifted and it is possible to stably rock and displace the armature with high precision by using, as a hinge portion, the engagement part of the engagement portion of the armature and the edge portion of the core.
With such a structure, moreover, when the lower end is magnetically adsorbed, the end on one of the sides of the armature has the outer peripheral surface thereof to abut on the end face at one of the sides of the core in a close contact state. Consequently, it is possible to decrease a leakage flux from the end face on one of the sides of the core, thereby enhancing an efficiency.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing the relay (100), wherein a step shape for partially selecting an end on the other side of the armature (201) and an end face on the other side of the core (204) and for causing them to abut thereon is provided on an abutment face of the armature (201), and a relief concave portion (201e) constituting the step shape is formed by press molding.
Consequently, the step shape for partially selecting the end on the other side of the armature and the end face on the other side of the core and for causing them to abut thereon is provided on the abutment face of the armature. Therefore, the press molding which is simple and has high processing precision can be employed for a method of forming the relief concave portion constituting the step shape. As a result, the relief concave portion can easily be formed to have a predetermined depth with high precision, and a process of manufacturing the relay can be simplified and a cost can be reduced.